This week, we are giving away THREE copies of Jeff Goins‘ book The Inbetween: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing. Jeff is a full-time author, blogger, and speaker. He frequently speaks and writes about how to make a difference in the world through our words and actions. You can follow him online at goinswriter.com.Â
I recently had the chance to ask Jeff a few questions about his book:Â
Jeff: The In-Between is about that space in between the major moments in life — the space where we really spend our lives. Many of us are moving so fast that we’re tempted to look on to the next big thing before we finish what’s right in front of us. This is a book of stories from my life about how I slowly learned to be patient and embrace all life has to offer in the present. Through my own tales, I share how when we embrace the in-between we can lead lives of greater significant, deeper joy, and enduring gratitude.
What were the biggest challenges or struggles during the writing process?
When I was writing this book, I struggled with how to present the information. I wanted to communicate how transformative these lessons were for me, but I also didn’t want to be too obvious. Part of what’s so significant about the in-between — any seemingly mundane time that teaches us a profound lesson — is how inconspicuous it is. These smaller, less-than-extraordinary moments teach us subtly, and I wanted the book to do the same. Since I’d never written much memoir and the book is essentially a series of nonfiction essays, I called on a couple friends to help me edit it. And boy, am I glad. I think the way the ideas connect with the stories (and even some of the custom interior artwork) is pretty cool.
What do you hope will happen in the reader’s heart and mind after they finish with the book?
I hope every reader realizes, as I did, that what we do with the small moments is really an indication of what we do with ALL of life. We either relish it or waste it. We embrace every moment or throw them away, waiting for something “better” to come along. My goal for the book is that it inspires others to let go, slow down, and be grateful. That’s what my in-between times teach me, anyway.Â
What 3 books have most impacted your life and ministry (besides the Bible)?
I loved Seth Godin’s book The Icarus Deception. That was a great challenge to focus on the “art” of what I do. I also really appreciated Robert Greene’s Mastery — a great look at why you should not only be good, but great, at what you do. And I finally got around to reading The Reason for God by Tim Keller; it was excellent.
Check out the trailer for The Inbetween: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing. (RSS Subscribers, click here to view.)
To win ONE of THREE copies of The Inbetween:Â Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing, leave a comment below. Winners will be selected and announced on Friday.Â
Do you find yourself in the in-between right now? What season of life are you waiting for or wishing away?
Rest can also be found in the “in between times”.
As I’m “waiting,” this sounds like a book I need to read.
I’m all too guilty of throwing away moments I consider ordinary while treasuring those I think of as special. This concept clicks with me. I plan to read this. Even wrote it down. Thanks.
I got tired of waiting to find something so this is good book for me to read. I ordered Margaret’s Bible Study Scouting th Divine and it arrived so quickly I was really pleased. I was leaving on a trip the next day so I just sat the box aside and now I can not find it. I am reordering it because I an afraid my husband threw out the box with everything in it. I am the keeper and he is the thrower in our marriage. I am keeping him anyway. I hope He won’t dare throw any more boxes out with out checking them completely! And I hope I win this book
I’m learning to embrace and enjoy my in-between being in its presence with patience and love.
I can relate to the “in between” Would make for some challenging reading
Gratitude for the “Precious Ordinary”
I’m wishing a particular situation away. I’m trying to learn that this time is important. That maybe if I spend more energy embracing this difficult time, it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. But I’m a terrible wait-er. I fidget and must find something to fill those moments.
I’m kind of wishing my kids would “grow up”…act kinder, be nicer, be more loving, stop talking back….Just tired of being the mean mom all. the. time.
I think I need to read this book!
This book describes my situation at the moment. Finished my PHD a year ago and am still looking for a job. Indeed, patience and gratitude is what I am learning.
This book sounds like just what I need to read to help insurrection I am in life right now!
Looks like a good book and a great subject… I’d love to read it!
In the “in between” season right now. I spent 5 years working and building my career and then last 7 being mommy. Now that my kids are in school and close to school age, I am looking to the next thing, but trying not to miss the beauty in this moment.
With two small children it is tempting to wish the kids were older so we could go and do more things. I know this is the wrong thing to do because I have been told many times that my kids will be grown in the blink of an eye. I have already seen my 6-year-old grow up fast.
We are also working to pay off debt so we wish we could do more and have nicer stuff, but it will take several years before we pay off our debts. We need to enjoy this time of being in the in-between.
I’ve always wondered about the disciples’ “in-between” times: holy Saturday, the time before Pentecost. This book sounds like good-reading.
Wow! Fantastic subject. Sounds like a great read.
“Part of what’s so significant about the in-between — any seemingly mundane time that teaches us a profound lesson — is how inconspicuous it is. These smaller, less-than-extraordinary moments teach us subtly…” LOVE!!!
I enjoyed listening to Jeff Goins on Beyond the ToDo List podcast and I’d love to win this book. It’s currently on my Amazon wishlist! I love change and I love moving so it’s hard for me to rest where I am now. We’ve been in the town where we are now for 9 years and I’ve never lived anywhere this long. I’m not wishing anything away but I’m certainly day dreaming about what else is out there.
I’ve been in the “in-between” season for over a year now and struggling to get through it..
Oh, yes. Sounds like a book written just for me. Ready to find some blessings in disguise for sure.
Thanks for such a giveaway! Big & bountiful blessings to you, Margaret, and Jeff too!
After listening to the audiobook of “Wrecked” and feeling like I’m in my own in-between right now, I’m really in a place where I think this book would soothe and inspire my soul. Thanks for sharing this Q&A, Margaret!
Would LOVE to win a copy! Sounds like an awesome read — and perfect timing!
I would love the opportunity to win this book!!! I believe I am navigating between the “in-between” and the “Now and not yet!”
Wow! So many things that I’m “in between” right now. Still in that fun post-college phase where I have a job and a calling, but not yet moving toward it. In the time of being happy and single. Most obviously, I’m in the between of knee surgery. Where the fixing has happened, but the recovery is not yet here. Big things are coming, I can tell. 🙂
My sister-in-law has posted several times about this book. Thanks for the giveaway offering. In life with chronic illness, many days feel “in between”: in between sickness and health, between one doctor’s appt and the next or one test and the next. I’m always waiting for something. Enduring breast cancer treatment may be similar…
Thank you. Grace and peace be with you in your treatment and, I pray, healing.
This is exactly what my wife and I have been discussing for the past week. I am nearing the end of my training and probationary period at work. I started last year very strong, but I am now in my second remedial period. I thought God was leading me here, but sometimes it just doesn’t seem like it. This is make-it-or-break-it month for me, and I just want it to be over…but that’s just it! This is the greatest opportunity for me to see what I’m made of. It is an opportunity to rest on and trust in God. It is an opportunity to prove myself and honor God while doing it. It is absolutely not about passing anymore, it is about soaring and excelling. The in-between is the character-building time at this point in my life.
I’m in a waiting period myself. Sounds like an excellent read. I always enjoy Jeff’s blog.
Suzanne that is so very true, why do we eye the cake on the other table and look over the pie on our plate. We treasure the two birds in the bush and forget to feed the bird in our bird cage. I am in the in between, after working for thirty years in an office i have finished my master in religion with a concentration in worship studies and now i am working on applying what i learned there to a devotional/short story or novel that will glorify God and uplift my fellow pilgrims in this journey called life as a spiritual song would uplift and strength.
you had the same comment as suzanne
i quite agree we should learn to rest in the here and now
WOW, YES! Even if I don’t win this book, I’m talking that one quote you put up there (the one saying “what we do with the small moments is really an indication…) will change my life forever! Thanks!!
My “in-between” button seems to be stuck, or I am. Need the book.
Where is my focus when all the little pieces float past me in a tornado?
I’m realizing that so much of life is “in-between” in one way or another. Interested to read Jeff’s book.
I am constantly looking ahead or thinking of the past and would love to learn to embrace the present moment. It sounds like this book explores that practice which would be such a blessing for me.
awesome, thanks for this opportunity. God bless. 🙂
Would love to read The InBetween. My children have all married – and its a new phase of my life but things have not materialized quite as I planned. Sometimes in the InBetween, I’ve forced things to happen and maybe missed the blessings intended for me.
Have really enjoyed reading about this new book. Hope to hear more about it.
I’m supporting my husband in his “in-between” time. After 29 years of teaching in an inner-city school system, he waits for God’s direction to take the next step. I am challenged by his challenge. When’s he is discouraged or impatient my role is to encourage, empathize and love.
Some days are easier than others.
This sounds like a good read for my In-Between.
My marriage (35 yrs) is In=Between – separated for over 2 years, we’re closer to reconciliation after counseling, but I want to make sure I don’t miss what God is trying to teach me, grow me, and breathe His very breath in all I do.
I want God’s best – and hope my In=Between is not wasted.
Retirement looms somewhere in the near future for me, and I’m wondering what to do with the rest of my life. How can I give back? I have been so blessed. This in-between time near the end of my career in education is a time to wonder and dream. This book sounds like it would help me with that process.
I would love to hear more of Jeff’s story; it sounds like his journey has been an interesting one.
I would love to read this book!
Definitely in the in-between, trying to bring glory to God in the frustrations of day to day life. So much yet to learn.
Sounds like the perfect book at the perfect time in God’s perfect timing of my life.
Sounds like a great book to help me appreciate the precious normal rather than living from event to event as I tend to do.
I would really love to get my hands on this book. I am eagerly trying to understand where I am right now and want to embrace what God has for me now.
Wow…needed subject in my life. Praying for help in the wait…imagine getting help to value the wait!!! Pick me, pick me…lol.
I am typically not a patient person, especially not waiting. Recently God has allowed something to come into my life to show me that I need to slow down and wait on Him and see how precious those in between times really are . Reading this article made me think that maybe I not the only one that needs this. Reading Jeff’s stories would be encouragement to me and others.
Sounds like an amazing book!!
Sounds like an awesome book! Definitely want to check it out!!
Wow. Very interesting. These in between times will either strengthen or break us. We all need Jesus!,
I feel like this book just echoes the season that I am in right now. Thanks for sharing.
I’m in-between starting my life!
The inbetween moments are just simply moments where God does His best work. I’m in an inbetween moment with God right as it pertains to being a parent. What does He have in store? I’m not sure.
But while I’m seeking His face in these inbetween moments I want to live Wonder Struck by our awesome God Margaret Feinbgerg wrote about.
I’m thankful for the inbetween times because it teaches me that I’m not in control nor will I ever be and that there is a mountain ahead!
I’m in-between several decisions trying to decide whether to pursue my dreams now or postpone them until my kids are older. I always feel in-between balancing my career and family. Would love to read this book.
“Many of us are moving so fast that we’re tempted to look on to the next big thing before we finish what’s in front of us.” Thank you for the reminder Jeff to finish those things already started and not to wish the time away. I find myself worrying about what God has planned for the future and will the dreams on my heart ever come true, and yet the truth is that I am walking about my dream right now. The important thing to remember is that God has called me to finish these steps first before moving on. ~Victoria
I would love to read this book! (and probably will!)
Ben Rector is gracing me with his music. Jeff Goins will be gracing me with his words.
The “in between” seems to be the theme these days.
Just added to my Amazon basket, but free is always better!
Oh! “Wrecked” was in my basket, not this one!
Sounds like the season of life I’m in. Definitely going to read this!
I believe the Lord does a precious work in our heart in the “in between.” I’ve been in this place for awhile and have appreciated the stillness and reflection…yet stirring of my heart and mind. I look forward to seeing the “The In-Between” has in store for me. Thanks!
We always forget about the moments in between the major life events. I need to try to remember to enjoy and learn from the ENTIRE journey, not just the pits stops on the way to the destination.
I am between my two sons being children and adults. I am in between them still needing me and them being inrependent.
Inbetween is the story of my present life! We are in the midst of selling our business …..my husband is planning on getting back into ministry, my mom has dementia and I’m responsible for her care….change is coming, I am Inbetween a completed responsibility and taking on something new, scary and challenging. I have been so aware of God’s timing, and my need to have Him lead me in every detail! This is the first time in my life that I have no idea about any one thing in my future…..I am so thankful that I have faith in my God who has known the plan all along!
I am currently “in between” and I’m trying to make the most of this time.
Oh those in-between times! I have seen The Lord do some amazing things in my life in the boundary between one season of ministry or assignment and the next. It is in these times I find it challenging to just wait and to fully trust in God’s timing. He is always perfect and always on time. Help us to learn from and be thankful for the in-between times.